


Smile like you mean it

by smolzuko



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Suki (Avatar), Everyone Is Gay, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Gay, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Idiots in Love, Idiots to Idiot Lovers, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Post-Canon, Protect Zuko at all costs, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Slow Burn, Soft Zuko (Avatar), Stan Suki for clear skin, and protect sokka too, kind of??? idk, toph is a savage and knows everything, writing Zukka fics is the author's coping mechanism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25358152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smolzuko/pseuds/smolzuko
Summary: The Gaang takes a well-deserved vacation on Ember Island. The Fire Lord and the Southern Water Tribe ambassador are (a lot) in denial about their feelings for each other, but thank God Suki is the protector of the girls and the gays and helps them cut the bullshit.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (mentioned), Sokka/Suki (friendship), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Ty Lee (Avatar), Zuko/Toph (friendship)
Comments: 70
Kudos: 292





	1. a Bothsexual?

**Author's Note:**

> Post-canon, some years after the end of the war.  
> Please be kind, this is my first fanfiction ever! I just love these two so much I had to write something.

PROLOGUE:   
“Sokka, I’m bisexual”. Suki is looking at him right in the eye, firm and unapologetic, but he can tell she’s just a bit nervous by the inflection of her voice.   
Wait, what did she say? “Does that mean we get to have sex twice tonight? Because I’m down for it, baby”  
“Sokka, don’t be stupid.”  
“What? Ok, ok, once is fine, I guess”.   
“Sokka, do you really not know what bisexual means?”  
“Hell no I don’t, it’s the first time I hear something like that.”  
“It means… I like both men and women. Equally. Maybe a tad bit more women, but that is far from the point”.  
“WHO IS SHE?”  
“Sokka, who is she who?”  
“WHO IS THE WOMAN THAT YOU LIKE… and you said MEN as in PLURAL? MEN? How many people ARE THERE in this relationship that I’m not aware of?”  
Suki sighs and her expression softens. “You know, for someone who has planned successful war strategies and busted prisoners out of the highest security prison of the Fire Nation, you are so dumb.”  
She smiles a bit at Sokka’s eager expression. He really loves learning, in all of its forms. She takes his hand, invites him to sit down on the sand with her, and tries to explain the concept as simply as possible. She knows that he’ll be okay with it, he just has to wrap his head around it. Besides, her radar tells her that he’s not completely at the straight end of the spectrum either. But that’s something she’ll let him figure out on his own. She smiles a bit wider at the thought of observing Sokka while he questions his sexuality.

Meanwhile, he’s still staring at her, genuinely confused.  
“Sokka, me being bisexual does not mean that I go around fucking all kinds of people or that I have secret boyfriends and girlfriends. It just means I’m not attracted exclusively to men. But we’re together now, and I’m not cheating on you.”  
“Oh thank God.” The look on his face looked relieved, but then shifted into thinking-mode “though it might be hot…” but he didn’t get to finish the sentence. Suki had used his imbalance to shove him on the sand. “That’s sexist. And not okay.”   
“WHAT? HOW MANY MORE THINGS ARE SEXIST? But ok, noted. It’s just… new to me. I’m sorry.”  
“You better be.”  
“So… do we still get to have sex tonight”  
Suki can’t help but chuckle. She knew it was going to be okay. 

THREE YEARS LATER  
Sokka walked into the Fire Nation Palace full of hype. He hadn’t seen some of his friends since his breakup with Suki. Suki who was now Head of the Royal Guard. Suki who was now with Ty Lee. Being apart so much had made them mutually lose feelings for each other, and that was okay. But he still cared about her. And hated her because she planted the seed of doubt in him – what if he was attracted to men too? He tried to stop his mind from wandering into the very inappropriate, very naked, very tangly, red and blue scenario which had been his safe haven during his solitary diplomatic mission to restore the Southern Water Tribe’s old wealth. He had plenty of time to think while he was travelling alone and no matter the reason, his mind somehow always ended up to a certain Fire Lord. No. He was about to meet his friends for the first time in forever, and he was not going to let his easily distracted mind to… well, get distracted.   
_Too soon._   
Zuko was staring at him, his head slightly tilted, the most subtle smirk of amusement on his face.   
_Fuck, he HAD been distracted and wandered into the throne room, unannounced, and without noticing. What if his clothes were stained? He had eaten meat for lunch. SHIT, SOKKA, GET IT TOGETHER._  
“Sokka!” a green tornado had hit him from his left side and was now hugging him.  
“Suki! It’s good to see you!”  
“Good to see you too. Everything okay?”  
“….Yes” Zuko had stepped respectfully aside, but he still had his smirk across his face. Sokka’s heart skipped a beat when he noticed Zuko’s pitch black hair.   
_OH COME ON, LONG HAIR? IS THIS ALLOWED?_  
Once Suki had let go of him, Zuko stepped forward and in absolute seriousness said “Welcome to the Fire Nation Palace, Southern Water Tribe Ambassador Sokka”. Classic Zuko. Couldn’t he just chill a little?  
“Oh come on Mr Hotman, chill out! Give me a hug you fucker, how are your boring administration meetings treating you?” he said, opening his arms up for a hug.   
Zuko raised his eyebrow in disapproval, but then shyly walked into Sokka’s hug. “I’m so tired” he mumbled into Sokka’s clothes. _Well you can stay here all you want -_  
“WELL, too good we’re going on a vacation then! We should make this a tradition. Team Avatar Vacation Week! Make this a national holiday, would you? As in, we get the holiday and everybody else does the work.”  
Zuko pulled out of Sokka’s hug, without noticing Sokka’s reluctant expression. “That’s not how it works, Sokka, I can’t just MAKE a National Holiday”.   
“Yes you can, you’re the Fire Lord! Stop being so uptight – AANG! MY BOY!”  
“Oh Sokka, come on, I was going to sneak up on Zuko!”  
Zuko scoffed. “No you weren’t. I knew you were here since you came through the side door.”  
“Yeah, right. Toph can barely hear me when I walk and YOU knew I was here. Please, Zuko, you’re going to have to do better than that”.   
While Zuko and Aang were verbally battling each other on who is the best sneak attacker, Katara entered the room. Sokka had not seen her in a long time either, and they greeted with a hug.   
“Oh Aang, sweetie, I spent an hour looking for you! Where were you?” Katara cooed.   
Sokka winced. “YOU TWO ARE STILL UP WITH THIS SWEETIE BULLSHIT? You’ve been together for years now, will you stop it? Zuko, please banish the word “sweetie” from your kingdom”.   
Zuko raised his eyebrow again. “Look, their fairytale dust world makes me sick too, but I CAN’T ban words-“  
“Shit, Zuko, what did you even become Fire Lord for if you can’t ban words you don’t like and make national holidays for yourself out of thin air?”  
Zuko’s expression darkened. “You know why I became Fire Lord”. _Shit. He had forgotten how much Zuko struggled with taking a joke. He was not to blame, the poor guy never had the chance to take something lightly in his life. Mental note: avoid sarcasm and references to Fire Lord Ozai._   
“Gee, it was a joke, Zuko. But I’m sorry”. Zuko gazed away.   
“Come on, guys!” said Aang. “We still need to go get Toph before we set off for Ember Island. We won’t be there before dark if we don’t move now”.


	2. When did we get Toph?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they're all bigger, Appa's saddle feels a little tight. That sends Sokka on an overthinking journey. Zuko being asleep beside him does NOT, in fact, help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't be afraid to leave a comment and telling me what you think! I'd really appreciate that :)

Appa’s saddle felt extremely small compared to the last time they all flew together on it. Sokka didn’t know if it was that they all got more buffed due to the years of training (even Katara had some muscles now, can you believe that) or that he was sitting next to Zuko and couldn’t avoid their legs touching if he tried. The fact that he didn’t try is irrelevant to this discussion. The fact that the contact made his stomach twirl is also irrelevant to this discussion.  
_I’m so pathetic, what am I even doing, he’s not even gay. He probably has a smoking hot Fire Nation girlfriend by now and they’re just going to get married. And have some mini Zukos. So between being the Fire Lord and being a dad he won’t even have TIME to see his dumb Water Tribe ambassador and I’ll get it together. Sounds like a plan. Besides, I don’t even have a crush on him, it’s just that I’ve been alone so much, and Suki made me think that maybe I like men and he’s my closest HOT friend because come on, Aang is everything but hot, but there’s no proof that -_  
His stream of thought was broken by a raspy voice. More raspy than usual. “What time is it? I must’ve drifted off”. _Oh shit. Zuko was SLEEPING? And he didn’t even notice?_ He felt the light pressure of Zuko’s leg against his knee fading. _Oh. That’s why he didn’t move his legs. He was sleeping._  
“It’s more or less one hour to sundown. We’ll be there soon”, Aang responded from the top of Appa’s head.  
“HEY THERE, DUNDERHEAD. Got your beauty sleep? You’ll need it when we get blackout drunk on cactus juice.” _Wait. When did they get Toph? Did he fall asleep too?_  
“Toph. It’s so nice to see you again.” Zuko said, grunting to readjust the slump position he had assumed while sleeping. _Putting more painful inches between himself and Sokka._  
“Yeah well, can’t say the same about you. I have no idea what you look like, so I can’t tell you if it’s nice to see you or not.” Sokka almost audibly snorted. _I can assure you Toph, he’s nice on the eyes alright._ He tried to sneak a side glance at Zuko, but he met his eyes. They looked like melted gold in the orange light. He could’ve sworn he saw his pupils widen a bit before he quickly glanced away.  
“And thanks for saying hello, Meathead. If you and Sleeping Beauty weren’t too busy being sappy boyfriends, maybe you would’ve noticed when a ten tonne flying bison flew several feet down from the sky specifically to pick your blind friend up”.  
Katara giggled audibly.  
“KATARA, YOU’RE ONE TO LAUGH ABOUT SAPPY. AND TOPH, WE’RE NOT BOYFRIENDS – “ he stopped himself before making a joke on the lines of “Zuko WISHED he could bang this” because 1. He most definitely could, whenever he wanted, and 2. He had already made an uncomfortable joke today and he didn’t want to get that number any higher. So he just apologized and went on an offensive nickname war with Toph. He didn’t notice that Zuko was the one trapped in his thought process now, his eyes absently fixed on the clouds.


	3. I came here to stare at your ass, apparently

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically everyone knows these two idiots have been in love for years, but they don't seem to grasp the concept very much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos, guys! Here's another chapter, I hope you like it. I promise this is going somewhere and it's not gonna be all dumb thought processes. But in the meantime, this is what you get! It builds character.  
> Please leave a comment if you like it! I'll be back soon with more idiot pining. Kudos to you all! ♥

Zuko didn’t like Ember Island. 

The childhood memories came back to him like a tidal wave as he entered the old house. But it was practical for small getaways like these – and he was with his friends. Soon, he would be caught up in some stupid bending fight with Aang, or he would be arguing with Katara about the most efficient method of cooking for so many people, or he would be scoffing at Sokka. Sokka and his stupid jokes. So annoying. Annoying ad distracting. That is, from his childhood memories. So that wasn’t entirely bad. Besides being a moron, Sokka was really helpful in diplomatic missions. The world was theoretically unified now, but the old tensions of the past still stood, and Sokka was one of his most trusted advisors. He’d missed him during the past few months. Meetings were, in fact, very boring without him.

No matter how many times Aang and the others told him that he was one of them now, Zuko still felt guilty for hunting them down and still, from time to time, thought he didn’t belong. He was in his early 20s now, and his people loved him, the Fire Nation was thriving. But when he took off the royal uniform he still felt alone. He loved his friends and was grateful for them, but he still felt like they treated him in a special way, with some kind of... _delicateness_ , like they felt bad for him and felt like they needed to tiptoe around him. You know, because he had to turn against his father and teach the Avatar firebending and worry about his imprisoned Uncle and see his sister spiral into madness in a short amount of time, all while needing to show composure and be ready to be crowned Fire Lord and, like, fix 100 years of Fire Nation tyranny. 

The truth is, all of his friends experienced some kind of traumatic event in their past, but they chose themselves as a family, and relied on each other even when they were apart. Zuko though, even knowing that they had accepted him as a part of their little gang long ago, never had the luxury to have them around for much time and to really cuddle up in the family feeling. You know, rebuilding the world and other normal teenager stuff. He knew they would be there for him, but being there for the Fire Lord meant helping him take some weight off of his shoulders and going away in diplomatic missions, each of them usually lasted months. Especially without Appa, who was always with Aang and Katara helping on Avatar Duty Stuff.  
_Mental note: get Sokka some kind of big animal transport. He deserves it._

Sokka didn’t have that sad mixture of pity and muffled admiration in his eyes when he talked to Zuko. He seemed to be above it, and he always made inappropriate jokes realizing only later on of their inappropriateness. Zuko hated himself for being such a mess at receiving humor and for not being able to crack a joke to save his life, but to be fair, he was never taught how, and the only funny person in the group was Sokka, and he was almost never around. Not that the others weren’t funny. Well, Katara wasn’t funny. She was the responsible one. But Aang was funny with his childish actions, Toph was funny with her snarky comments. Sokka though, he had the best humor. It didn’t make any sense to Zuko. 

“Hey, Jerkbender. You good?” Sokka was leaning against the door which brought into the balcony, where Zuko was standing staring at the very last shades of orange being swallowed by a calm, black sea.  
Zuko broke out of his arguably self-destructive thought process and let out a small sigh. “Yeah, I’m okay.” 

“Do you really think I’m going to buy that after all these years?”  
Zuko’s eyes widened in surprise. It was just a millisecond before he regained his composure, and another millisecond before he remembered it didn't matter because he wasn't facing Sokka. He sighed again.  
“Maybe not. That does not change the fact that I’m not going to talk about it. It’s no use. It’s in the past, and I should have gotten over it a long time ago.” He honestly didn't even know if he was talking about his childhood or about the way his stomach seemed to take a leap whenever Sokka was around being his dumb self.

“I don’t want to force you, Jerkface, but you know that you can talk to me. After all, I’m your advisor.”  
“What were you doing here anyway?”  
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know there were restrictions on where we could go in the house. Be sure to hang an official warrant next time. I obviously came here to stare at your ass, what other reason could it be?” _Oh God. Why don't you just cut off your own tongue, Sokka, so you can stop being this amount of STUPID-_  
Sokka could’ve sworn he saw flames in Zuko’s eyes as he turned around to face him, a frown between pissed and confused across his face.  
“I’m sorry." Sokka added. "I came to tell you dinner’s ready, Jerkface.”

If he had been even an inch further away, Sokka wouldn’t have heard Zuko muttering “Dumbfuck” under his breath. He smirked while Zuko closed the door behind them and they headed down the stairs.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 _I CAME HERE TO STARE AT YOUR ASS? WHAT THE HELL?_  
Sokka was panicking. It was indeed a nice ass, but why the hell would he say that OUT LOUD? Why couldn’t he just shut up? He almost facepalmed himself, but then he remembered Zuko was right behind him. Why did he care so much anyway?

At dinner, he noticed something. When he leaned in to grab some food and accidentally brushed Zuko's clothes, he caught Toph being barely able to contain a smirk and consequently elbowing Katara, who proceeded to roll her eyes in exhaustion. What was she even tired of. Making dinner? He knew better than to guess they were talking about girl stuff. Toph would rather bite her own arm off than to talk with Katara about "girl stuff". Suki soon joined in on the Not-So-Secret-Smirking-Elbowing-And-Looking-At-Him-Shenanigans, but he didn't want to make a scene so he let it go. 

That night he had trouble sleeping, replaying in his head all the moments in which he could have, even in the slightest way, fucked up his friendship with Zuko.  
_He probably thinks I’m just the token idiot of the group. And he’s right, APPARENTLY, since I can’t keep my mouth shut –_

The overthinking spree took him right to sunrise, with very little sleep and one very blurry dream. He gave up when he heard the birds chirping and went out on the porch. Zuko was on the shore, barefoot, doing some breathing exercises. Some yoga or shit or something. Firebenders rising with the sun and all. His hair was tied up and he was wearing his light training gear, the sleeveless one. _The sleeveless one. I haven't seeen that one in a while._

Sokka leaned against the porch and was careful not to make any sound, and just watched Zuko doing the weird firebending moves that everyone thought were dance moves. They actually were, in a way, but Zuko made them seem lethal. He was entirely focused on what he was doing, his expression poised, emotionless. He looked like a statue who had just decided to get off its pedestal and start moving like the mortals. Sokka decided to go back inside or the beating of his heart would’ve caused enough vibrations to wake up Toph. Yeah, that wasn't normal. He probably needed to talk to Suki.


	4. The tea incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Toph looked like she was about to fall off her chair for how much laughter she was trying to contain. These two were so oblivious it made her weak with repressed laughter every time they had any kind of interaction. In all the years of friendship with Sokka, she never ever witnessed him making tea for himself or others. She lost it completely when Zuko tasted his tea, made an audible gulp and found his way to the kitchen coming back with sugar cubes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this instead of studying for my (very) impending finals because their dynamic is my whole coping mechanism.  
> Please leave a comment and come find me on tumblr @ssmolzuko for prompts and general screaming about ATLA. My inbox is open! See you in a few days when I'm finally free from finals for a bit and I can write all day.

Sokka makes coffee and tea for everyone, since he’s already awake. He might as well.  
Zuko comes inside with his hair dripping wet and tied up in a messy bun. _SPIRITS, the audacity of this man. HOW DARE HE being this level of hotness._ Sokka almost drops the pot. 

“Fell into a pool, Jerkface?”  
“Haha, very funny. Turns out that unlike you, I train everyday, and when you train you sweat, so to get rid of that sweat and not smell bad at breakfast with everyone, I thought it would be a great idea to take a dive in the giant fucking pool of water also known as the sea, which is conveniently spread just some feet from this house. I’m sorry for being this considerate. Next time I’m going to make sure I'm covered in fucking dirt all day.”  
Sokka was trying his best to keep his laughter to himself, but he snorted and Zuko glared at him.  
“First of all, I WORK OUT EVERY DAY. Second of all, dude, calm down, it was a JOKE. But pretty good sarcasm there, you’re getting better.”  
“It wasn’t-“  
“Just take this win, man. I don’t usually give awesome humor advice this easy.”  
Zuko sat down at the table and noticed that Sokka had made breakfast.  
“How long have you been up? You usually sleep late”. They were the only ones in the dining room, although Zuko could hear the noises of the other’s morning routines. Aang was probably awake since he had been, but he was nowhere to be seen. He was probably meditating. Some Avatar Monk stuff.  
Sokka seemed flustered. “I- uh… yeah, turns out I couldn’t sleep very much, so I figured I might as well make something nice for everyone”.

“Oh. Is something wrong with the bedr-“  
“I made tea. I mean, if you want. Coffee too.” Sokka was not going to let Zuko investigate on why he didn’t get his solid 10 hours of vacation sleep that night. If Zuko could run away from talking about feelings and stuff, then he could too.  
Zuko was startled by his offer but quickly composed himself. Making tea was kind of his thing. He had made a ritual out of it since he had worked at his Uncle’s tea shop in Ba Sing Se, and plus, it was a way to be reminded of everything his uncle had done for him. But Sokka meant well, so he didn’t point this out. “Yes, I'll have a cup, please. Thank you.”

Toph appeared in the dining room while Sokka was pouring tea into Zuko’s cup.  
“Look at you two lovebirds, up early to have breakfast in solitary. You could’ve told me, I would’ve took my food and left without disturbing you.”  
Zuko glared at her before he could remember she wasn’t able to see him. _Maybe if I glare hard enough she’ll sense it._. Seriously, what was it with Toph and the relationship mockery these days?  
Sokka wasn’t comfortable with that comment either, risking to pour tea all over the table. Neither of them said anything to Toph, who unceremoniously took a piece of meat and started chewing on it.

Suki and Katara arrived too, and they smiled at the set table.  
“Aw, Zuko, you made breakfast for everyone?” Katara smiled.  
Before Zuko could answer, a shriek came from the kitchen. “NO HE DIDN’T, IT WAS ME. I MADE BREAKFAST.”  
“Sokka, stop being an idi- wait. Why are you even awake?” Katara blinked in surprise.  
“Because I wanted to make breakfast for you guys.” Sokka came back into the dining room, shrugging. _I certainly didn’t get up early because I was having an existential crisis about whether I have a crush or not on my straight or maybe not straight best friend, who was very inconveniently training on the beach so he could make me question my life choices with his wet hair bun –_

His trainwreck of a thought was interrupted by Suki laughing, then looking at Katara, and then laughing some more. “Come on Sokka, you hate cooking AND you never wake up early. We’re not buying it, Zuko did it.”  
Zuko, amused at the accusations, chuckled softly and blowed on his tea. “No, I swear, when I came back into the house the table was set and all. Sokka even made tea.”

Toph looked like she was about to fall off her chair for how much laughter she was trying to contain. These two were so oblivious it made her weak with repressed laughter every time they had any kind of interaction. In all the years of friendship with Sokka, she never ever witnessed him making tea for himself or others. She lost it completely when Zuko tasted his tea, made an audible gulp and found his way to the kitchen coming back with sugar cubes. _Sugar cubes._ Katara was narrating the scene to her and Suki as if it were a dumb play, as the two men were putting on a show without knowing it. Fire Lord Zuko didn’t have sugar in his drinks since he was like, ten years old, probably. Between Zuko using sugar to make his tea more bearable so he didn't have to disrespect or let down Sokka, Sokka being completely oblivious about it like he didn’t attend thousands of tea afternoons with Zuko and never once saw him put a sugar cube in his cup, and Katara narrating the scene as if they were observing some weird animals, Toph was cracking up with laughter.

“Good morning guys! What’s so funny? Zuko, why are you making faces while you sip your tea?” Aang cheerfully uttered while walking into the house.  
At this point, Katara and Suki joined Toph in incontrollable laughter, much to Zuko’s embarrassment. Sokka had a moment of realization while Aang was still trying to understand what was going on.  
“Zuko! My tea sucks, doesn’t it?” He asked way too dramatically.  
“……. No, it’s – I mean, it could be better, but it’s not terrible, I mean-“  
Sokka had already poured himself a cup and spit it all over the place once he tasted it. “OH CRAP, IT DOES SUCK!”  
Zuko was blushing, his sly Show-Your-Appreciation plan gone to waste, while Sokka dramatically sat himself on the ground with an equally dramatic sigh, while all the others were laughing their asses off. _I guess I really am the comedy guy_ Sokka thought, letting out another sigh.  
But then Zuko started to laugh too, and for a moment he looked like he didn't have a care in the world. So Sokka joined his friends and just took a minute to take it all in: this was his family, it had been since he was 16, and he loved every single person in it. Everyone in its own different way. 

The rest of the morning went by between beach time, remembering dumb teenager shit they had done just after the end of the war, and teasing each other. Even Zuko seemed to be enjoying himself, the weight of a kingdom temporarily lifted from his shoulders. Zuko without his default slight frown made Sokka want to cry. _Protect him at all costs._  
"Suki and I are going to the market to get food for tonight!" he yelled at the rest of the gang.  
Suki was half asleep on the beach. She tilted her head up, shielding her eyes from the sun. "What - we are?" she mumbled.  
"YES WE ARE." He needed to talk her. She was his emotional support ex. And she knew how to handle feelings.  
As to prove his point, once Suki saw his expression she got up, went into the house, and shortly after came back with an empty basket and money.  
"All right then, big guy. Let's go to the market."  
She probably already knew what this was about. Sokka was extremely grateful for their friendship.


	5. The fuck-up percentage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Suki wanted to die. Why did men need to have everything explained to them. Couldn’t they just get it? She was always bewildered at the thought of how smart and how stupid Sokka could be at the same time.  
> But of course she loved him, so she decided to take one for the team because she’d had enough of this shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 2 AM and I've written this chapter because I have no self control whatsoever.  
> I apologize if you find any typos or weird wording, English is not my first language and sometimes writing is hard. I try.  
> Find me on tumblr @ssmolzuko for yelling at me!  
> Love y'all and thanks a lot for the kudos and the comments. It really means a lot to me.

“Alright, I think I know what this is about.” Suki said while they were walking towards the market.  
“Suki, I thought about it a lot, and… I think I have a crush on Zuko”.  
“Yeah, no shit.”  
“You knew?”  
“Everyone knows, Sokka. It’s pretty fucking evident. That’s why Toph keeps dying of laughter whenever you two are in the same room. She senses your hearbeats and the thought that you two still haven’t figured that out is absolutely hilarious to her. At this point, we’re all just waiting for you to sort it out and be together already, but let me tell you – we’re kind of losing hope. We could go with it while you were apart, but now that you’re around each other and you still don’t get it – God you two are such idiots. You’re perfect for each other. ”

“Wait –You mean that Zuko likes me?”  
Suki groaned. “OH MY GOD, how are you so oblivious? He would jump off a cliff if you asked him to. He's absolutely smitten. Don’t you see him go all red and try too hard to hide his feelings when you’re around? Plus, Toph says the vibrations are just through the roof.”  
Sokka stopped walking as soon as the realization hit him. _If Zuko likes me, that means -_ “ZUKO IS GAY?”

Suki wanted to die. Why did men need to have everything explained to them. Couldn’t they just _get it_? She was always bewildered at the thought of how smart and how stupid Sokka could be at the same time.  
But of course she loved him, so she decided to take one for the team because she’d had enough of this shit.  
“YEA SOKKA, ZUKO IS GAY. I mean. Nobody has ever heard it from him, but I think it’s pretty obvious. Katara and Ty Lee agree too. And of course Toph. Aang still thinks that everyone is bisexual but some people still haven’t looked inside their souls enough to figure it out. But that's besides the point. Anyway, you should see Zuko at the castle when you’re not there. It’s clear as day that he misses you, he's a hundred times more stressed and grumpy, and just overall a pain in the ass because he’s emotionally constipated. He's just different when you're around. I told him a thousand times that he could talk to me, but of course he keeps everything bottled up and lets it eat him from the inside. I love him, but he has _a lot_ of shit to sort out, Sokka, and being the Fire Lord certainly doesn't give him the time or the strength to go on a self-discovering journey. Being gay is one of the things he needs to sort out. I think he just hasn’t let himself be what he is. In other words, he still hasn’t admitted it to himself. You might have to constantly reassure him that it’s ok, but please, just get together because this has been going on for some years now – “

For some reason, out of all the things she had said that was the one that made Sokka talk. “Wait wait wait. Years? I just figured out that maybe I liked Zuko like, a week ago, and I was positive about it like yesterday.”  
“Well, the fact that you just figured it out doesn’t mean that it wasn't there before.”  
Sokka let out a sigh. “Ok well, with all the shit he’s been through, this is not going to be easy.”  
“No, but it's probably going to be worth it. Do you even know how much Zuko cares about people? How much he cares about _you_? He just needs someone to help him understand that he doesn't have to shield himself from the world anymore.”

Sokka smiled. He did know that. “How long did it take you to figure out you wanted to be with Ty Lee?”  
Suki was not expecting that question, but she didn’t mind answering. In front of her was just a guy who was trying to understand what was going on, and asking questions was the first, most logical, most Sokka way of sorting things out. She knew that question wasn't random, and wasn't aimed at changing the subject: it had a specific purpose and was like a piece of a puzzle for Sokka. 

“Well, I don’t know about how much time exactly – I guess I didn’t have a moment of realization like you may have. It was kind of a creeping feeling that took up more and more space everyday – it started small, kind of like having a hunch about something, and then got bigger and bigger, until I couldn’t hold it in anymore. And thank the Spirits she felt the same way. You know, we had been training a lot together, and we were always on the same watch turns to protect Zuko. We bonded and then one day we were like okay, time to cut the bullshit, do you want to be together? And now we’re together.”  
Sokka had his mouth open in admiration. “That sounds _so easy._ ”

Suki smiled. They had been on Ember Island for two days and she missed her like crazy. She had volunteered to stay at the castle as Iroh's personal guard, because it didn't feel right for her to leave him unguarded. Iroh was powerful enough to defend himself, but then again, so was Zuko, and still the attacks and the threats were enough to constantly keep him on edge. Plus, just making the official claim that the Kyoshi Warriors were the Fire Lord's personal bodyguards had significantly decreased the attempts on his life, and Suki was very proud of that.  
“Yeah, I guess it was easy. But then again, none of us was in denial about our sexuality. You were until not too much time ago, and Zuko still is. Plus, you’re men. That makes you prone to action instead of talking things through, and acting without talking usually results on a higher fuck-up percentage. If we add into the equation that one of said men is Fire Lord Feelings What?, the percentage of not sorting things out right away like I did with Ty Lee is pretty much through the roof. You following me?”

Sokka was following her. Equations were his shit. And he knew she was right.  
“yeah, I got you. So, what do you think I should do?”  
“Shit, Sokka, I don’t know, but you have to do something. You have to be extremely careful not to hurt him, but I think you already know how to do that. You know him way better than I do. You’re one of the best when it comes to talking to him.”  
“Yeah, I wish. Yesterday night he was clearly not okay but when I asked him if he wanted to talk he just shut me down.”  
“Yeah, he's like that sometimes and you know that. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t trust you. I think you should tell him that you like him, Sokka. Maybe it will be a little rough at first, but if you plant the seed into his brain he will inevitably start to think about it and – not even he is on that level of denial. He will start to wonder and come to the conclusion that he’s gay. And we’ll all be there for him to tell him he’s okay like that, because we’re his family now and we need to make up for the one who treated him like shit.”

“Suki, you’re so wise.”  
Suki smirked. “I know. I should start charging you for my wisdom.”  
“Hey, that’s friend code violation. But I admit you’d be pretty rich if you charged.”  
Suki bumped his shoulder with hers. "Feel any less confused?"  
Sokka shrugged. "Yeah, I guess". His mind was going a hundred miles an hour.  
“Come on, big guy. Let’s get dinner.”They had already reached the market.  
“Yeah, let’s get dinner.” he said, distractedly. “And… thank you, Suki. You’re the best.”  
Suki smiled. “I know I am. Now go get your meat so you can have a half-functioning brain when you go get your man, you jackass.”  
Sokka laughed and headed straight for the meat stand.


	6. A scream so loud it tears you apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sokka shoots his shot, but Zuko has more or less 21 years of internalized homophobia to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, I HAD to put some angst in this. I felt like it was necessary for how I planned the whole thing. Please don't hate me. I'm going to fix this VERY SOON, I promise! Please bear with me. Come yell at me @ssmolzuko on tumblr if you want to punch me after this chapter.  
> (P.S. It's 3 AM so if you find any typos or weird wording please let me know.)

When they came back from the market, they found their friends playing some bending-adaptation of soccer. They couldn’t play volleyball because Toph couldn’t have sensed the ball. Of course Aang and Katara were on the same team, because they were sappy like that and couldn’t even pretend to be against each other for a second.  
“Oh yeah, the Bending Soccer.” Sokka blurted out. “Well, the non-benders are here so cut your bullshit and let’s start regular soccer” he said with a grin. He knew the others would never dare to object. They felt too bad about being benders if they had to train or play some kind of game with Sokka, and he had learned to use that to his advantage. 

He felt Suki getting close to his ear. “You go with Katara and Aang, so maybe you’ll get some healthy man-marking with the Fire Lord. Let’s see if it awakens something in him”.  
Sokka grinned wider. “Suki, you evil genius.”  
“You bet I am.” She smiled back. “I’LL GO WITH ZUKO AND TOPH!” she yelled, running towards them.  
The benders were never as good as Sokka and Suki at doing non-bending stuff. That is, besides Zuko. Zuko had learned hand-to-hand and sword combat when he was 13 probably because he needed to, but Sokka liked to think that he also did it because he felt like firebending just wasn’t enough. 

He couldn’t say when it happened, but at some point they were both shirtless and sweaty and fighting for the ball, and Sokka’s mind went where it probably shouldn’t have.  
_Well Suki, I don’t know about the Fire Lord, but this definitely awakened something in me._  
Zuko looked too concentrated to be fantasizing. He took everything seriously.  
Sokka’s team lost, because of course Toph, Suki and Zuko were ruthless while Aang didn’t want to hurt anyone and Katara was great at bending soccer but kinda sucked at normal soccer.  
“YOU ALL SUCK! You couldn’t even take out the team with the blind girl without bending!” Toph yelled.  
“Well, if Aang and Katara didn’t spend half the time making eyes at each other-“  
“Oh Sokka, you don’t want me to start on who’s making eyes at each other, do you.” Toph said calmly.  
Ok, point taken. He let it go. He honestly didn’t care right now.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night, it was Zuko who found him. Sokka was sitting on the rocks, his eyes closed, taking in the sea breeze with large breaths. If he didn’t know him any better, Zuko would’ve guessed that he was meditating. But Sokka hated the “spiritual mumbo-jumbo”. He cleared his throat to make him aware of his presence.  
Sokka turned his head and seemed surprised to see him there. He invited him to sit next to him. 

“Everything okay?” He asked, his eyes gleaming with the reflection of the moon.  
“Yeah, yeah” Zuko said lightly. “I just wanted to, uh – I just wanted to apologize for the other night. I was rude, I – I know you were trying to help. I actually like talking to you, but you’ve been away for so much time that I guess I developed a defense mechanism”. He said, looking at the sea in front of him.  
He felt Sokka sigh lightly, but it wasn’t an exasperation sigh. It was more of a “I know” sigh. 

“It’s ok Zuko. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to or if it’s painful, but you know I want to help. You’ve been through some shit, we all have, but you had to pull yourself together way faster than any of us. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. I mean, you kind of have to, but you’re not alone in doing it. Aang might be lanky but I have these bad boys”, he said, flexing his biceps in an attempt to lighten the mood. He was painfully aware of Zuko’s closeness.  
Zuko smiled, but didn’t carry on with the joke. “Look, Sokka, I wanted to thank you for all the work you’re doing. I hope the negotiations with the Water Tribes will be successful soon, it seems like we’re about to reach an agreement, so… so you won’t have to travel alone for all those months anymore.”  
Was that an attempt of saying he had missed him? That he liked it better when he was at the palace? Sokka could never tell with Zuko. He meant things too literally. 

“Anyway” Zuko said, “while you were away I took a brief visit to Uncle in Ba Sing Se and I figured I could meet Toph at the Academy while I was there. She was showing her students how to make shapes out of her bracelet, and she told me it was meteorite and the story of your sword. I knew you’d lost it during the battle against the Fire Nation fleet, but I never knew the story behind it, and I know you have a new one now and you also have a new boomerang but I thought, well I thought that a meteorite is big enough to make another one and I asked Piandao if he still had it since you dragged it all the way up to his house and – and turns out he had it and I asked him to forge you another sword with a matching boomerang.”  
He drew a pitch black sword and a matching boomerang from the sheath on his back where he was keeping them. The boomerang’s blade was carved, the kanjis read “never give up without a fight”. The sword’s hilt had the symbol of the southern water tribe engraved in it, surrounded by smaller symbols of the other nations. “I know the boomerang is not crafted in the Southern Water Tribe, and I know you didn’t make the sword yourself but here they are, if you want, they’re a space weapon matching set, but I totally get if you don’t –“

Sokka’s eyes were gleaming. He didn’t know what to say or if he ever would have found words again.  
“…. You got me MATCHING BADASS SPACE WEAPONRY??” He looked as happy as a child with a new toy, but Zuko knew that sword and boomerang were not just any weapon for him.  
“Yeah… I, I figured you might like them, and have, like, high-rank, Very-Important-Ambassador weapons…”  
Sokka hugged him. Zuko wasn’t expecting it and he went stiff for a second, but he didn’t pull away and relaxed shortly after.  
“TUI AND LA, LOOK AT THE CARVINGS! Oh SPIRITS, Zuko, how much time did it take to make these and oh my spirits, I – are you trying to bribe me? What dirty work do you want me to do? Because I’d kill for that boomerang.”  
“Oh spirits Sokka no I’m not trying to br-“  
“JOKE, ZUKO”, Sokka laughed.

Zuko blushed violently. “Right. Joke. Sorry. Still have to get used to you being back. Everyone is always so serious at the Palace, I forget that ninety percent of the time you don’t really mean what you say.”  
Sokka took the boomerang in his hand and tested its weight. He got up, studied the trajectory, then threw it with a slick, expert move. The boomerang came back and he caught it with his other hand.  
“It’s perfect! Who knew that Piandao could do boomerangs too.”  
He looked down at Zuko, who was watching him with amusement. He looked relaxed. Surely more relaxed than the other night. 

“Thanks, Zuko. And no jokes here. I mean it.”  
“I’m glad you like them. I was afraid you were going to lash out at me for disrespecting your culture because I asked a Fire Nation Sword Master to forge your boomerang –“  
Sokka put a hand on his shoulder, and Zuko stopped talking. “Hey, first of all, it’s a space boomerang, thank you very much. And then, pardon me, Your Highness, but aren’t I Ambassador Sokka? Isn’t it my duty to help different cultures to accept each other, and doesn’t that include giving and taking from each other? I think traditional weaponry forged not by who has a native right to do it but by who has enough skills to make it great can be a great symbol for the unification of the four nations. They’re great, please stop worrying. I don’t deserve it.” he smiled, reassuringly.

“Yes you do” Zuko blurted out, regretting it immediately. It was too late. “You- you’ve worked so hard, and I, uh, I couldn’t be where I am today without you. The Fire Nation wouldn’t be where it is today without you.” He could feel Sokka’s gaze on him, he was so aware of it he felt like it was going to pierce through his skin and shake his soul. As if pulled by an invisible force, he turned his head to lock his eyes with Sokka’s, and before he knew it, Sokka’s lips were pressing on his. 

He felt his body go completely still. He could sense Sokka’s uncertainty. He could feel his stomach twirling. But more than anything, he felt the electric shock from his brain, and pulled away abruptly.  
He didn’t know what he was doing. He wasn’t in full control of his actions. He was in his body, telling it to move, to speak, to glare, but he was also trying to fight it, to get it to stay right there where he was. And he was losing.  
He didn't say anything, but he felt himself widening his eyes, getting up and walking backwards.  
Sokka looked like he had taken a beating. “I – I’m sorry, Zuko, I didn’t mean to –“  
Without even realizing it, Zuko found himself on the cliff at the other side of the island, and only when he was one step away from oblivion he let out a scream so powerful that fire came out of his mouth. 

A flashback of himself in Ba Sing Se, 16 and confused like he never had been before, came back to him. He knew why.  
The feeling of his body being ripped apart from the inside was the same that made him go through hell when he was younger and didn’t know what to do. Uncle had said he was at war with himself. He guessed that was what was happening to him now. His body remembered.  
_Fuck, fuck, fuck, there’s no going back now._  
Still only half in control of his actions, he laid down on the rocks and stared at the stars until they gave in to the day.


	7. Fight it out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do you trust me?” Toph asked frantically.  
> “With my life” Sokka replied, without skipping a beat.  
> “Then let me go grab that wuss you want as a boyfriend. I’ll be back before you know it.” She said punching him in the arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This angst is going to be over soon. I promise. I'm enjoying writing about the dynamics different characters have with each other!  
> Thanks for all the kudos and the comments! It means the world to me!  
> come to my tumblr @ssmolzuko to yell at me and give me like,,,, prompts

Sokka let out a frustrated groan and collapsed to the ground. He'd messed it up. He'd messed it up real bad.  
He didn’t even tell him, he had just kissed him?? Out of the blue?  
He was so pissed at himself. So much for planning and thinking of the right words and bothering Suki, and then he’d gone on and kissed him without any reason. Well, the reason was that he liked him since forever and wanted to protect him and hold him in his arms and be with him more than anything. But Zuko apparently didn’t know that. 

After what felt like forever, he gathered his strength even though he felt like someone had repeatedly punched him in the stomach, and headed back into the house.  
The only person still awake was Katara. _Thank the Spirits_. Sokka really didn't feel like dealing with the entirety of the group now.  
Katara was absentmindedly drinking tea in the living room and Sokka just exchanged a look with her and collapsed into the sofa beside her, resting his head on her shoulder.  
There was no need to explain, it was very clear that things hadn’t worked out. Plus, it was Katara. She could basically read his mind. He mentally scoffed at himself for thinking that she couldn’t have known of his massive crush on Zuko.

“Wanna talk about it?” she said, without moving.  
“No. Not yet.” His voice came out extremely feeble. Exhausted. “But will you please braid my hair?”  
He usually did it himself. It was kind of a ritual, it took his mind off of things. His hair was longer than it had been at the time of the war, and he was a man now, but he still shaved the sides of his head. Braiding it was an efficient way of keeping it together in the wolf’s tail, and asking Katara to do it was something that helped him when he was distressed. When Katara did his hair, he inevitably thought of when their mother had died and Katara had taken the wheel even though she was younger. Sometimes, as kids, she would brush his hair and put it in a much more tidy wolf’s tail than he could’ve managed, and for some reason he always felt like letting someone touch his hair was a sign of complete trust. Plus, he didn’t feel like going to bed at all.

Katara smiled softly and put down her cup. “Sure, Sokka. Haven’t done that in a while. Let’s see what I can do.”  
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Thanks.”  
Katara took her time with the brushing. Her protective instinct towards her brother was taking over, and she wanted him to relax a bit so maybe he would’ve been able to sleep. “Do you want me to talk? Distract you?” it had been a long time since she had seen Sokka look so vulnerable. It hardly ever happened, she could’ve counted the times on her fingers. He could be negative and sarcastic, yes, but Katara knew that he also felt the need to overachieve in order to match the skills of the benders. Of course that didn't make sense and he was just as important as any of them, but she knew that the feeling had never truly left Sokka.  
“No, thanks, Katara. Just do my hair.”  
And she did, with much more attention that it would’ve required. She put little carved decorations in them, twisted the locks with expert hands, and tried to pass off all her love and protection for her brother through her relaxed weaving. She caught herself quietly humming, and remembered how Gran Gran used to sing lullabies to them as she helped her to do her hair in the morning.

When she was almost done, Sokka finally talked. He sounded much more relaxed, but still as if he had just come home from a battle.  
“So, I uh – I tried to kiss him.”  
Katara knew something had gone wrong, but of course she didn’t know the details.  
“Uh, okay. Do you want to elaborate?”  
“He – I thought he was gonna be ok with it. But then he went all stiff and widened his eyes and basically ran away.”  
Katara stopped the weaving. “Spirits, Sokka, where is he now?”  
“I… I don’t know. I didn’t see him come back.”  
“Shit.” Katara almost never cursed. “Well, don’t worry about him, I’m sure he can take care of himself. Let’s take care of you now. One thing at a time.” If Sokka was so devastated about one kiss gone wrong, it meant he cared much more than he was ever going to admit. Of course he did.  
“Katara, who knows what’s going on in his head right now. I messed it up, I messed it up so bad, I had planned everything you know, and I didn’t have to do it now, but he gave me a new boomerang and basically said he misses me when I’m not there and I just shifted to autopilot and did it and now I want to punch myself in the face because I ruined it forever and he is my best friend and why did I have to have a crush on him there’s plenty of other men plenty of other women and why him –“  
He was spiraling. Katara knew he was going to spiral at some point.

“Sokka, Sokka, slow down. You didn’t ruin anything, ok? We’ll figure this out. You two will figure it out. He probably just got scared, he wasn't expecting it. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t like you. I’m pretty sure that he wants to be with you, you just need to give him the time to come to terms with the idea. Don’t forget where he comes from.”  
“I’m worried about him Katara, he run off in the middle of the night and it’s been what, 3 hours? Where the hell is he? And why couldn’t I keep my mouth to myself – UGH, I always say something inappropriate and now I’m going around kissing people without asking if it’s ok, please freeze my head Katara –“ he was heavily gesticulating, making it hard for Katara to braid the last strands.

“Ok, you’re spiraling. Try to calm down now. I’m almost done with your hair, try to concentrate on my hands. Relax your shoulders. It’s going to be ok. You probably scared him, but that is forcing him to think about it now, and it was about time he did, if you ask me. Plus, he’s the Fire Lord, Sokka. He’s one of the best firebenders in the world. I think he’ll be ok for one night, and he’ll be back by dawn.” She sighed. “There. All done. You’ve got brand new braids.” She said, trying to sound reassuring.  
“Thanks, Katara.” He didn’t say he loved her, but he knew she could read it in his eyes.  
“You got it, big brother. Now try to get some sleep, please. We’ll figure this out in the morning.”

_____________________________________________

The morning came, but Zuko wasn’t back. Sokka didn’t even try to hide his distress, because 1. He didn’t have the energy for it and 2. Apparently everybody knew about his crush and 3. Zuko was nowhere to be found and he was a wreck, it wasn’t that hard to connect the dots.  
He was nervously bumping his leg, not really listening to the others.  
“That's it, I'm done waiting, I’m going to find him.” he said, pulling himself up from the couch.  
He felt a firm hand on his soulder. Toph.  
“I’m sorry, Sokka, but if he freaked out yesterday night he’s probably going to freak out some more if he sees you went after him and he’ll barricade himself up in himself.”  
Sokka lost it. “HE’S NOT AN ANIMAL, YOU CAN’T, LIKE, OBSERVE HIS BEHAVIOR AND KNOW WHAT HE’LL DO!” he yelled, immediately feeling sorry for doing so. He was on edge. He didn't care if Zuko was going to come back just to yell and firebend at him, he just wanted him to be home and know that he was safe.

“HEY! You do not get to yell at me. I’m trying to help.” Toph snarled at him.  
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I’m just worried and on top of that I want to punch myself.”  
“Come on, Sokka, it’s gonna be fine. You didn’t exactly pick the most easy and welcoming person on the planet. Give him time. Listen, let me go look for him. The island isn’t that big and we know he’s here because Appa’s still here. I’ll find him and try to calm him down. You stay here and try not to freak out too much, okay? Try to bake some cookies or whatever. We already have one dramatic bitch in the picture. Running away because of a kiss, ugh.”

Sokka wanted to laugh, he really wanted to, but he couldn’t.  
“Do you trust me?” Toph asked frantically.  
“With my life” Sokka replied, without skipping a beat.  
“Then let me go grab that wuss you want as a boyfriend. I’ll be back before you know it.” she said, punching him in the arm.  
“Ow.”  
“It’s my way to show affection”.  
“I know, Toph. Love you too.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn’t that hard to find Zuko. He was relatively far, but Toph was easily able to locate him after a few tries and earthbended her way to the top of the cliff. He was angrily sharpening a stick with a knife, but judging from the irregular timing of the strokes he was more butchering it than he was shaping it.  
“Hey” she announced herself. She knew better than to sneak up on Zuko, especially when he wasn’t calm. She had learned the lesson years before. It was an accident, yes, but it still hurt.  
There were several seconds of silence before Zuko let out a choked “hey”. The voice died in his throat as he remembered that he hadn't had any water since fucking fire came out of his mouth the night before.

“I brought you breakfast, if you want.”  
“Uh, thanks.”  
He was feeling nauseous, but he chugged the water and bit the bread Toph was offering nevertheless. They stayed like that for a while, none of them saying a word.  
It was like that between them. They weren’t much for talking, but they understood each other. Sometimes Zuko wished that Toph could be with him at the Palace as his advisor, because she said things without sugarcoating them. And he hated the sugarcoating, the tiptoeing around his past, and all that bullshit the people at the Palace pulled to try and protect him. He didn’t need protection, he needed to rule a nation, and if his idea on one particular matter was shit, he wanted people to tell him.

“So you panicked.” she said after what felt like ages.  
Zuko was violently brought back to the night before. It was pretty blurry, but the feelings hit him, full force. “Uhh, yup.”  
“How did it feel?”  
“The kiss?” he assumed she knew, since she’d come to find him.  
“Yup.”  
“It felt like I was being torn apart from the inside. At first it was good, but then something told me to stop, and I ran away because I felt like I was going to break down in half if I didn't.” He could feel the shame creeping up through his veins to cloud his brain. 

“Do you know what you’re going to do?" she asked. "He’s... he's worried about you, you know.”  
A bolt of pain shot through Zuko’s expression, softening his frown.  
“I have no idea. I’m so confused. I really don’t now, I mean –“ he struggled a bit to find the words and then decided that it wasn't worth it and let it go.

“Look, I’m no love expert or whatever, but you panicking instead of straight-up rejecting him says a lot to me. I don't want to be all prophetic and tell you who you like and who you love and what you believe in, but one thing I can tell you is that you heartbeat gets unbearably loud and fast whenever he’s around, let alone when you accidentally touch each other, and even if you try to control yourself you’re always shifting your weight towards him. If being blind taught me one thing, it's that your mind may lie, but your body doesn’t. When you two are in the same room together it’s like you're screaming directly into my ears, and I can’t stand you anymore.” She tried to lighten the mood a bit, but Zuko didn't pick on.

“It… it didn’t feel like that with Mai.”  
“I don’t think that was real enough. I mean, I get it, you care about her, but you being together was more of a defense mechanism than actually wanting to be together. You needed to protect each other. That’s why you didn’t last long after the war. That’s what I think, at least.”  
“I don’t know, Toph… I don’t fucking know.”  
“You have all the right to be confused. But if the problem here is wether you like Sokka or not, I think it's pretty obvious that you do. And you know it too. I'm afraid the problem here is not Sokka, the problem is that he’s a man. You need to push that shit out of your head, man”

Zuko groaned in frustration and buried his head in his hands. He still felt mildly feverish and as if he was going to throw up at any minute.  
Toph awkwardly put her hand on his back and patted lightly. “Hey, I think it doesn’t matter who you love as long as you feel good about it. You know we all love you, Zuko. Nobody thinks you’re broken or wrong. Nothing will change. Actually, things could change for the better. He… he can’t hurt you anymore.” It was clear who she was referring to.  
Zuko nodded, more to himself than to her, and took in a sharp breath. These words were completely out of Toph's comfort zone, and frankly, they were completely out of his, too. But it was what he needed to hear.  
“Hey. Wanna fight it out? To clear your head?” Toph asked.  
“Hell yes. Now you’re speaking my language.” He didn't care that he felt sick. Fighting was the only thing that could keep him from overthinking.  
Toph grinned. “I’m going to kick your butt.”

\--------------------------------------------------------

“I never get tired of throwing rocks at you” Toph yelled, dodging a fire ball. This was certainly not the first time they had engaged in a bending fight for the sake of fighting.  
They had been going on with it for like an hour now, and they were both pretty tired, but none of them was going to admit it.  
Zuko jumped in the air and used the rock as a propeller to land behind Toph, gathering his breath for the next strike. “And I enjoy dealing with emotional turmoil through fire blasts” he said, panting.  
Toph closed his hand in a rock-glove before he could firebend at her. “At least you’re admitting you’re in emotional hell. It’s a win for you.” Suddenly, she was behind him and grabbed his other hand to lock with another rock glove. “Aaaaaand this is a win for me.” She stomped on the ground, making it raise from under Zuko’s feet. He lost his balance and fell to the ground.  
“You got me.” Zuko said, smiling a little. He laid there for a while, panting, while Toph raised small chunks of earth from under his back to tickle him. It was probably already past midday when she asked if he wanted to head back.  
“Uh, I think I’d rather stay here for another while.”  
“Do you want me to stay?”  
“No Toph, thank you. I just need to think for a bit, make peace with myself. I don't want to mess it up any more than I already have. Don’t wait for me tonight. But please, tell Sokka not to worry. I uh – I hope I can make this right. I guess I’m not ready to face him yet.”

“You got it, bro. You come back when you’re ready. You know we all love you. Will you get your own food or do you need me to bring it here as if you were some kind of convict?” She giggled.  
“I’m the Fire Lord. I think I can procure myself some nourishment. Maybe even free of charge.”  
“Spoiled brat.” She said. "See ya when you’re gay enough to show up.”  
Zuko chuckled lightly, then gazed away. He felt a little less nauseous. He got up and started walking towards the village.


	8. Fire Hazard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know what? Just read this. It's going to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: this is -slightly- NSFW. There's no smut, but I thought I'd let you know. This is also shameless, shameless fluff. 
> 
> Thank you guys for all the comments and the love! It means the world to me and I hope you'll like the next chapters. ♥  
> If you want to cry about these two idiots come find me on Tumblr @ssmolzuko, my inbox is open! ♥

It took the willpower of everyone in the beach house to stop Sokka from going after Zuko when Toph came back without him.  
“I DON’T CARE IF HE WANTED TO BE ALONE, I NEED TO FIX THIS”  
“You won’t fix shit if you don’t give him the time he asked for! You need to chill out Sokka, he’s FINE” Toph yelled back at him. 

“Then why isn’t he here? I need to talk to him, I need to apologize and try to at least save our friendship! That is if he doesn't already hate me!”  
“Sokka, I love you but you’re overreacting here. He’s an adult, he knows how to take care of himself, and he certainly doesn't hate you.” Katara tried to put a hand on his shoulder.

“I agree with Katara here, plus, he specifically told Toph that he’s gonna be fine. He just needs a little time, I think you can give it to him.” Suki said.  
“AND YOU BELIEVE HIM? IF ZUKO TELLS YOU HE’S FINE, YOU BELIEVE HIM? Then you don’t fucking know him. I fucked up, I fucked up so bad-“ Sokka wasn’t really listening to anyone, the only thing he could think about was Zuko and how he had freaked him out, and how he would never see him the same way again. 

He was nervously pacing around the porch, gesticulating. He felt two hands grab his wrists in a weak attempt to stop his hectic movements. It was Aang. Sokka stopped moving, more out of surprise than because of the hold. Aang didn’t stand a chance against Sokka, muscle-wise.  
“Sokka, can you please stop for a minute and listen to me?”  
Sokka let out a vigorous sigh through his nose, which Aang took as a yes. 

“I get that this situation is nerve-wracking for you. But you should think about why it’s like that. You’re a practical guy, you like things done in the most quick and efficient way. For you, the most efficient way to solve this right now is going to find Zuko, explain your intentions to clear things up, and see what happens. But Zuko’s not you. If his way to process this is being alone, you have to respect it. He’ll come back eventually. I bet he’s feeling guilty about leaving you on hold like this, but not everyone deals with their issues head-on. You have to understand that barging in on him and demanding an answer is very likely to hurt him.”

Sokka's eyes were unfocused, his expression rid of all the anger and the pain it held just moments before.  
If he didn’t know him so well, Aang would’ve thought that he wasn’t listening. But that actually meant that he had grasped the concept and was elaborating.  
He finally nodded and let his arms fall to his sides. “This vacation sucks" is what he managed to say. "I’m sorry you all had to act like my therapists.” He said, before heading back into the house.  
\---------------------------------------------

Zuko didn’t come back that night. Nor did he come back the next morning. The only thing that was stopping Sokka from going after him was knowing that Aang was right. He didn’t want to push him any more than he had already done. But that didn’t mean that waiting wasn’t ripping his intestines off. What a relaxing vacation indeed.

His friends tried to distract him however they could, but he just wasn’t having it. So he dove into training to take his mind off of things. He even used the other sword so he didn’t have to think about Zuko while he was holding it. He ran, did push ups, pull ups, lifted weights until he was feeling nothing but the burn of his muscles begging him to stop. 

He couldn’t bring himself to go to dinner, so he just swam a little and waited it out on the beach. Some hours later, he was dealing with his existential crisis by laying on the sand, stomach up, and staring at the crescent moon.  
“Sometimes I wish you were here, Yue. I wonder how things would’ve turned out if you didn’t have to do what you did”. Talking to the moon on quiet nights was something he did, no matter if he was troubled or not. He knew there was a chance that Yue might hear him. They had only been together for a short time, but she still had been his first love. Talking to Yue while he was losing his mind about Zuko felt both cathartic and like he was betraying her. But she was the only one he wanted to talk to right now, maybe because he knew she wasn’t going to tell him what an idiot he was.

The cold breeze of the night against Sokka’s bare arms sent a shiver through his body. Suddenly, he saw a shadow projecting in front of him and jumped to his feet, his warrior reflexes still impeccable despite the time of peace, his hand going to his hidden pocket to take out a pocket knife.  
“Oh fuck, sorry, it’s -it's just me. I saw you down here and figured you could use a blanket”. A deep, raspy whisper.  
Zuko.

Sokka wanted to scream, or make a sarcastic comment asking when the hell he had decided to grace them with his presence again, or be angry at him. But the only thing he could do was sighing with relief. Zuko was fine. Zuko was here. Zuko was back, and he was standing there with a fucking blanket. How could he be angry at him? 

“Damn you, don’t ever sneak up on me like that.” he managed to say.  
“I’m sorry. Old habits die hard”.  
Sokka snorted at the comment and took the blanket, sitting himself on the sand. Zuko was still awkwardly standing with his arm mid-air.  
See, Sokka wanted to let him stand there until he grew tired of it and left, not because he rejected him but because he had fucking vanished for two days. But he just couldn’t. He had absolutely not one inch of willpower in his presence. _Sokka, you're a weak little shit._ he said to himself.

“Do you... want to join me?” Sokka asked, patting the sand.  
Zuko shyly crossed his legs and sat next to Sokka. Their legs were touching. He didn’t readjust to separate them. Sokka felt little electricity sparkles wherever his skin was touching Zuko’s. They stayed silent for several minutes, hearing each other breathe, staring at the sea.

Sokka actually heard Zuko gather his breath before he spoke.  
“Sokka, I’m-“  
“Don’t apologize. It was my fault. I should never have done that, and I’m sorry. It was stupid, and I didn't ask. I was just, I was just so alone for so much time and I thought, I don’t even know what I thought, I-“ he stopped when he felt Zuko’s hand on his shoulder. “Please, Sokka, can I do the talking, for once?”  
Sokka widened his eyes in surprise, but he nodded lightly. 

“Did I ever tell you how I got my scar?”  
“What does that have to do with this?”  
“Please, just listen to me. I’m trying to open up here. It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”  
“Yeah, yeah, okay. I guess you never really told anyone in our group, we just assumed it was a training accident or something.”  
“It wasn’t”. he paused for what felt like hours, but Sokka didn’t interrupt him. “It was my father.”

Sokka winced. “Your father? We knew he was horrible, but why do something like that to your child?”  
“Because I spoke out of turn in a war meeting." Zuko said, as if it was the most normal reason in the world. "I wanted to stop a batallion of new recruits from being sent to the massacre as a distraction army. He challenged me to an Agni Kai, and gave me this scar. And he banished me. He told me the only way to restore my honor was to capture the Avatar and bringing him back to him. And you know the rest.”

Sokka felt his heart sink. How did he not know this?  
“Shit, Zuko, that’s fucked up. That is really, really fucked up. I’m so sorry.” Suddenly, all the stuff Zuko had done began to shift from just “he was young and Fire Nation” to “he was young, Fire Nation, and his father scarred him for life both physically and emotionally on top of sending him out on a mission that would've been totally pointless if Katara didn’t break that ice at the South Pole”. Not that it mattered anymore. They were way past that point.

“Yea, well, it brought me to you all, didn’t it. But… that’s not quite the point. What I wanted to say is –" He closed his eyes, like he was gathering all his strenght - "being gay was never even a possibility for me. I never even remotely considered it. It just wasn’t an option where I grew up, it was not even that it was seen as bad, because that would've meant acknowledging it – it just wasn't there. I just - I didn’t even know until I started to travel. Of course I should've known, but I never really let myself feel it, I never let myself question.”

These were the most words that Sokka had ever heard come out of Zuko’s mouth in one sitting, and they were also the heaviest. For once, he was the one who didn’t know what to say. He just looked at him, encouraging him to continue with a nod.

“What I’m trying to say is… I still struggle with differentiating my own thoughts from what I was told to do my whole life. I know it’s been years, but that was my upbringing. Everytime I think or do something that my father wouldn’t have done -and that's pretty much everything I do-, I hear his voice in the back of my head, and I have to fight it. I - I guess that's why I freaked out the other night, and I'm so sorry I did. I basically have to fight myself all the time, and it’s exhausting, but I hope someday I’ll make it stop.”  
Sokka felt his heart plummet to his stomach. He just wanted to hold him.  
"I'm sure you will. I can't even imagine what it's like, but you’re doing great Zuko, really, and I’m proud of you. You know we all have your back, you know I have your back. You’re not alone, not at all. It’s not easy coming out of something like that in one piece.”

“Yeah, speaking of which…. The other night, when I rejected you…”  
“Do you have to remind me?”  
Zuko sighed. “Please, listen to me”.  
“Sorry, sorry. I AM listening.”  
“The other night, when I ran away, it… it's not that I'm not gay. I guess – I guess I am gay, if you really want to put a label on it. I freaked out because I knew, deep down, that I liked you, I – I guess I’ve been thinking about you as more than my advisor, uh, for a while now - but the voice in my head kept telling me that it was absurd and dishonorable and that it would have ruined me and that it wasn’t real. I have been struggling with it for some time. Toph had to make me snap out of it and that’s why I came here tonight. I guess everyone’s tired of me drooling after yo-“

He stopped midsentence. He could see the realization spreading on Sokka’s face. For some reason it hadn't clicked until that moment. His eyebrows slid up, his eyes widened while he processed the information that maybe the ripped, inexplicably hot, long-haired hecking Fire Lord sat in front of him didn’t reject him because he was disgusted – in fact, he didn’t reject him at all. The man he saw in front of him was still struggling to overcome the angry, sad, abandoned teenager he had met a long time before. 

Sokka wanted to scream, kiss him, and then hug him until he didn’t feel his arms anymore. In that order. But he still wasn’t going to risk it. Not yet. Not after what had happened.  
Zuko was watching him almost with scientific precision, his eyes focused on Sokka’s face, trying to map every wrinkle of his expressions to catalogue them and match them with a precise emotion.  
Their eyes locked.  
“So I guess I, uh – I wanted to apologize, I was wrong and that wasn’t what I wanted, and, uh, I'm an idiot, and I'm sorry I left you here, and uh - can I – is it okay if make it up to you for the other night?”

He saw Sokka’s expression melt into a sappy smile in a matter of nanoseconds. _How are you so adorable?_ Sokka thought.  
“Are you asking me if you can kiss me when I tried to kiss you literally 48 hours ago? Do you think I ran out of Desire-To-Kiss-Zuko in the meantime or what?” it came out sarcastic, but the way he was looking at Zuko left no doubt about how he actually felt on the subject.  
“Oh, will you please stop talking.” Zuko scoffed, one corner of his mouth sliding up in a slight smirk.

So Sokka stopped talking. He still couldn't believe it was happening as he cupped Zuko’s face with his hands, his thumbs gently rubbing his cheeks. He leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss on his lips.  
Although this was Zuko’s preferred outcome for the evening, the touch still made him stiff for a few seconds, but he then gave in with a soft moan as his hands cradled Sokka’s back, pushing him closer. Sokka’s tongue parted his lips and found its way into his mouth, sending electricity down Zuko’s spine while a warm feeling filled every vein in his body, making him want to melt, dissolve into Sokka’s arms for the rest of time.

Sokka moved one hand to the back of his neck, pulling him closer into the kiss, which had turned desperate now, an attempt to take in as much of each other as possible, to make up for the time lost.  
“Is… is this okay?” Sokka asked, panting, his lips still brushing against Zuko's.  
“You idiot, I _asked_ for this.” Zuko said, looking him in the eye. He almost never did that.  
“Ok, but I want you to tell me the second you feel uncomfortable, ok?”

Zuko looked eager, impatient. His pupils had almost overcome the gold in his eyes, and there was something mildly wild about it. Sokka felt his limbs go weak.  
“Yes, yes, I’ll tell you. Now, will you please stop talking?”

Sokka had never seen him like this, but he wasn’t complaining.  
He shifted his weight, lying Zuko down in the sand and kneeling on top of him, kissing him feverishly, while the things he had been imagining manifested themselves violently in his brain.

Zuko was breathless, but he didn’t want it to stop. He traced his fingers up and down Sokka’s back, tugging at his tunic to tell him to get it out of the way. He could feel that Sokka was short on air too, but he was very okay with that.  
Sokka pulled away only to start kissing Zuko’s jawline, his neck, his collarbone, leaving purple marks here and there and leaving Zuko gasping for air. He could feel Sokka’s grin against his skin, and that honestly made it all better. 

“I’ve been wanting to do this forever.” Sokka whispered against his skin.  
“Honestly, me too.” Zuko said between the gasps. He wanted to add that he was an idiot for not realizing it sooner, but he wasn’t exactly in the state to articulate so many words at once. He felt like he was going to explode, like the only place where he could find oxygen was on Sokka’s lips. Lips which were now leaving fire trails on his chest. 

Zuko felt every inch of skin burn wherever Sokka decided to place his lips, lingering enough to make Zuko feel like he was going to burst into flames, but somehow always leaving before it happened, leaving him breathless, longing for more. The sounds that were coming out of his mouth would have embarrassed the hell out of him if only he could have been able to think, but in that moment the only thing he felt was the warm, nurturing, intoxicating fire of Sokka’s touch. 

“Is this the kind of non-talking on my part you had in mind?” Sokka whispered into his ear.  
His breath sent a shiver down Zuko's spine and thank the Spirits it was dark, because his face had matched the color of his scar. He let out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah… pretty much.”  
“Good. Because I think we did enough talking for tonight.” Sokka said, before starting to kiss him again with the desperation of who’s been waiting for too long. 

Every time he let out a moan, Zuko could feel Sokka grinning against his skin. He was playing dirty. He wanted to hate him for it, but he just couldn’t. It was working for him, knowing that he could just let himself collapse into Sokka, and that he was going to take care of him. That he could let Sokka take control and nothing bad would’ve happened. He could just let go, just for a bit, just until they were there in that bubble, shielded from the world. His whole body relaxed, safe into Sokka’s arms as he breathed him in.

He didn’t notice the little sparkles that were coming out of his fingertips. Sokka did, because he felt them on his bare back. They didn’t _burn_ , it was more like several little shocks. It was weird, but it was good. He liked having a fire hazard basically at his mercy.  
_Well would you look at that. Fire Lord Hot Stuff does, in fact, like dick. Congratulations Sokka, you are exactly the last one to know._

That was the only semi-coherent thought he could produce before he was overwhelmed by Zuko’s presence again, by his gasps, his moans, and the little shocks on his back.  
Zuko was pretty much overwhelmed too, but for nothing in the world he would’ve wanted Sokka to stop. He almost drunkenly went along with everything Sokka was doing because everything felt good, safe, right. Sokka was taking enormous pleasure in the fact that everything he was doing seemed to be working for Zuko. He just wanted to make him happy, to be by his side and kiss him senseless and never mess things up again.  
"You are so beautiful, Zuko." was the only thing he managed to say to convey what he was feeling.

When they pulled away, after what felt like two hours and two seconds at the same time, Sokka let himself fall to the ground, arms behind his head, still panting, and tried to steady his breath by inhaling the cold night breeze.  
“Zuko.”  
“Hm?”  
“Are you okay?”

Zuko was still trying to gain some kind of composure. Not that it mattered anymore. He let out a chuckle. “Yes, I’m okay. I’m more than okay, actually.”  
“Then why are you still away from me. Cm’here.” Sokka patted his own chest. _Boy still can’t take a hint._  
Zuko felt blood rushing to his cheeks, and once again he was grateful for the favor of the night. He didn’t argue that they were laying just a few inches apart, because he didn’t want to be any number of inches apart.

He laid his head on Sokka’s bare chest and began lightly tracing his fingers on his muscles.  
Sokka giggled and put an arm around him. “You’re tickling me.”  
“Well, get over it. I’m not going to stop. It was your choice to workout everyday, and now you gotta deal with the consequences, Jerkface.”

“HEY. That is MY nickname for YOU, Fire Lord Hot Stuff.”  
“As Fire Lord Hot Stuff I declare Ambassador Sokka unfit to use the word Jerkface to refer to anything but himself”. 

Sokka gasped in indignation. “How DARE you. Using my own game against me. What a sly creature. And how come you are Hot Stuff and I’m just Ambassador Sokka?” he felt himself smiling, he was smiling so wide he felt like a whole idiot, and he ruffled Zuko's hair before pressing a kiss on it.  
“You’re the weird Nicknames Guy.”  
“You bet I am. You have so much to learn, Hotman.” Still grinning. _Oh you're screwed, Sokka. You're so screwed._  
They didn’t need to talk any longer. Sokka thought they had made their points pretty fucking clear.


	9. Who's sappy now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some cute fluff for you because y'all deserve it. I think this is going to be the second to last chapter, but I can't be sure. Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry guys, this is going to be a little bit shorter because I've been busy the last couple of days.  
> I've already planned a Zukka College/Flower Shop AU tho.... so stay tuned because I can't get enough of writing these two  
> (Come find me on tumblr @ssmolzuko for prompting and general Zukka trash content).  
> Thank you for your support ♥

Zuko woke up with the first rays of sunshine and it took him a few seconds to realize that he had fallen asleep on Sokka’s chest. And that they were lying on the beach. It was the best night of sleep he had in months.  
He was startled for a moment, but then he smiled and kissed him on the cheek. Sokka looked peaceful in his deep sleep. 

Zuko knew he wasn’t going to fall back asleep, but he closed his eyes and didn’t move, feeling the warmth of the rising sun on one side of his face and Sokka’s skin pressing on the other.  
He breathed the moment in, hoping to imprint it in his memory and never forget it. 

The rest of his friends slowly showed up on the beach and each of them smiled widely at Zuko when they saw the both of them cuddled up.  
Zuko felt himself blushing, but smiled softly in return. He didn't know what to say, but then again, he thought that a smile that wide on his face didn't happen very often. 

“I didn’t see you in the house and the doors to both of your rooms were open, so I figured you must’ve been here.” Katara whispered, smiling. “I brought tea, if you want”, she added, handing him a cup.  
Zuko pulled himself up, careful not to wake Sokka, but not leaving his side, and took the cup.  
“Thank you.” He whispered in return. 

Suki winked at him. Toph punched him on the arm. Aang nearly screamed and Katara had to put her hands on his mouth to muffle his squeals.  
“I didn’t know you were... such a fan, Aang” Zuko said, amused. He resisted the urge to pass his hand through Sokka's hair. He didn't want to do it in front of everybody. He took a better look at the braids which were framing his face. They brought out his jawline. He mentally thanked Katara, or Sokka, or whoever had braided his hair.  
“Are you kidding?” Aang said, eyes wide. “I’ve been waiting for you two to get together since forever! Sokka wouldn’t shut up about you!” 

“Aang, be quiet! Sokka hasn’t slept in 2 days!” Katara whispered. Zuko wondered how Katara managed to both scream and whisper at the same time.  
Then he processed the information about Sokka not sleeping and felt his heart drop. He felt guilt creeping up inside him, but then he glanced sideways at him and couldn’t help but smile. He felt bad for reacting how he had, but he knew that Sokka had already forgiven him because he was just that kind of person. 

Zuko tried to push away the feeling of unworthiness that was beginning to grow in the back of his head. _Stop it._ he firmly said to himself. _You deserve some happiness._  
He didn’t really believe that at the moment, but he hoped that saying it to himself enough times could do something. He hoped Sokka could love him enough for the both of them. 

He gladly abandoned his thoughts to chat with his friends, all gathered on the beach as the sun rose higher and higher, and smiled with gratitude. If he could freeze time, he would have done it.  
He didn’t even notice how high the sun had gotten when he heard a groan and felt a hand on his thigh. Zuko snorted as a very messy-haired Sokka rose from a night’s sleep that looked more like hibernation.

He watched Sokka squint to make his eyes adapt to the light, his hand not moving from his thigh.  
“Oh, good. You’re all here. Because I claim this man.” and before Zuko could realize it, Sokka was kissing him, and it was not a prude kiss. 

Zuko felt blood rush to his cheeks and widened his eyes in surprise. “Sokka, COME ON!” he groaned, embarrassed, but the others were all laughing.  
“Classic Sokka” Aang sighed.  
“We get it, you got the hot man, now please get a room!” Suki said.  
“And please get it on the second floor” Toph added.  
“EEEEWWWW” Katara exaggerated. “Look who’s being sappy now, huh?”

Sokka pulled away, probably fueled solely by sibling rivalry, and said “Katara, you don’t know what you’re talking about. This” - he gesticulated emphatically at his mouth and then Zuko’s – “is _hot_. Calling each other sweetie after, I don’t know, five years of dating is sappy. Learn your lines, little sister.”

“You’re still my brother, seeing you kissing people will never be a fun experience.” Katara said back.  
Sokka pondered for a second. “You’re right.” And proceded to kiss Zuko, again.  
Zuko tried to object but he couldn’t say that he wasn’t enjoying it. It was not a fair play against Sokka. How was he supposed to, like, _turn away a kiss?_ Nuh-huh. He kissed him back, still not used to how good it felt. When they pulled away he put his hand on top of Sokka’s and for some reason, that felt more intimate than kissing him. He then looked him in the eye. “Well, good morning” he said, softly. He had forgotten about the others. 

“GOOOOD MORNING SUNSHINE” Sokka replied, radiant, pressing a kiss on his forehead. “Now, who’s got some food?”  
He received a chorus of exasperated groans in response, but he didn’t care. He was holding Zuko’s hand in this fine as hell morning, and no one was going to ruin it for him, for fuck’s sake.  
He looked at his friends and grew serious for a moment. “Thank you guys, you’ve been the best support group. I’m sorry I ruined your vacation.”

“Yeah, uh, thanks guys.” Zuko added. “I’m – I’m sorry too. You could take some extra days you know, I can go back alone on Appa and then send some ships to retrieve you.”  
“Oh, stop, we still got a few days, it’s fine.” Katara said.  
“Yeah Zuko, don’t be the person who already starts to think about what they have to do when they get back from the vacation, because that actually stops you from enjoying the vacation! You can worry about stuff when it’s time. Now it’s not the time.” Aang added, hugging Katara from behind. He had grown significantly taller than her, and Zuko struggled to superimpose his image with the short, hyperenergetic bald kid he had met years before.

“Plus”, Sokka added, clinging onto Zuko octopus-style “if you think I’m going to let you go _anywhere_ without me, you’re dead wrong baby.”  
“BABY?” Katara was horrified. Zuko was dying. Dying from lack of blood to his brain because every drop was reddening his face. Dying did not imply complaining, though.

Sokka ignored his sister and grinned. “So. What are we doing today?”  
He was met by five disoriented looks.  
“I have no idea. You’re the plan guy, Sokka.” Aang said.  
“Jeez, what did you do while I was drowning in my emotional turmoil these past few days?” Sokka said, happy to see his sarcasm coming back full force. 

“You mean, besides babysitting you?” Toph replied.  
Zuko wanted to dig a hole in the ground and lie there until he was alone with Sokka again.  
Sokka swallowed, embarrassed. “Yeah, right, uhhhh – let’s see what we can do.” 

His eyes sparkled. “GUYS. Do you think there’s an Ember Island Players show tonight?”


	10. Only because you called me beautiful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to the Fire Nation Palace, Zuko has to deal with having a boyfriend and being the Fire Lord.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm sorry I'm late, I was in a bit of a slump, but here is the last chapter of this fic! Your support has been amazing and I hope I can give you a worthy ending. Please come find me on tumblr @ssmolzuko and stay tuned for my next fic ♥ love y'all

They hadn’t discussed the whole “being together” thing, but Sokka didn’t mind. As long as he got to sleep holding Zuko and as long as he got to kiss him when they woke up, it didn’t matter what they were calling themselves. He just wanted to enjoy finally being with him. The next few days went by on a swirl of being absolutely smitten with each other and not bothering to hide it, while the other members of the group were constantly torn between being happy for them and wanting to send them on a desert island alone because of how they were rubbing their honeymoon phase in everyone else’s face.

But still, he had not thought about what they were going to do once they got back to the Palace, so Sokka kind of went along with what Zuko did and didn’t pressure him. He was fine with sneaking up to the Royal Chambers every night, it made everything more exciting and spy-like and shit, like he had seen in some plays. So he was completely fucking astonished when some months later Zuko straight up asked him to “Pass me these documents, babe? Please?” in a meeting. 

It wasn’t a big meeting, just a few Fire Nation advisors and Aang, but everyone in the room froze and turned their eyes to Sokka, who was internally amused because Zuko usually didn’t show any kind of slipping, especially not in public. Externally though, Sokka was as frozen as everyone else, and he passed the documents absentmindedly, just to see that Zuko had gone full red. It was pretty obvious that he hadn’t done it on purpose. _Adorable._ He tried to hide his grin, but wasn’t very successful. 

Still, this meant that very quickly, the whole palace would’ve known. And he didn’t exactly know how Zuko felt about it. This was all new for the both of them, but Zuko probably and understandably needed more time to be comfortable with them being addressed as a couple publicly. Sokka was a generally laid-back dude, and it didn’t really matter to him. But Zuko was very careful about his public image. _I wish he could relax a little._

Sokka froze a second time when he saw Zuko regain his composure, clearing his throat and standing up.  
“Trusted advisors”, he said, looking at each one of them and lingering on Sokka. “I’m sorry for addressing Ambassador Sokka with a name that is not fitted for a meeting. Nevertheless, as you will have guessed by now, we are together.” 

He looked stern and resolute. If Sokka didn’t know him so well, he would’ve said there was no hint of emotion in his voice. But he could hear the slight tremor that Zuko had learned so well to mask in his years as Fire Lord. He felt his heart shrink and the angles of his mouth rising into a loving smile. _This man will be the death of me. Straight up doesn’t talk about our relationship for months and then decides that we’re boyfriends IN A MEETING and announces it as if it was the dinner menu. So dramatic._

Zuko side glanced at him and then continued, reassured by Sokka’s smile. “On this note, I would like to promulgate an official document that allows same-sex marriages in the Fire Nation.”  
He wasn’t asking for permission, he was describing an action that needed to be taken. And he would’ve made it an order if it had come to be necessary.

He looked at the advisors’ raised brows and answered their questions without giving them the time to ask them. “I know it was never officially illegal. But have you ever heard of same-sex marriages since Sozin was on the throne? Because I haven’t. And I can assure you it’s not because people are not gay. And even if there were marriages, they were certainly taken away from history books. Which, by the way, I would like to carry on revisiting, with the Avatar’s and the White Lotus’s help. The young minds of the Fire Nation need to know their history as it really happened, if we want real change here. I can only go that far.”

Sokka was smiling so wide. He hadn’t even realized the marriage thing. Some problems of the Fire Nation didn’t occur to him until Zuko pointed them out. But then again, Sokka hadn’t been in the Fire Nation for all that time. Ever since the war ended, he had always been around on diplomatic missions. He hadn’t really had the time to experience the place’s way of life. 

He took a look at the other advisors. They weren’t the annoying ones, so he wasn’t shocked when after a few seconds of surprise they all nodded and started to make suggestions on the better wording for the new law. _Good._ With them aboard it would’ve been easier to get to the others. He felt his heart swell with pride while he looked at Zuko hectically move documents and stamps around to begin the draft. 

Sokka put his arm around Zuko’s waist while they were exiting the throne room.  
“So, I’m your boyfriend now? I’m glad you let me know before you announced it to everyone else.”  
Zuko stopped walking and shot him a panicked look. “What do you mean, was that… wasn’t that obvious? Spirits, did I do it wrong?”  
_Here we go again, Sokka. Dial down the sarcasm or you're going to give this man a stroke._

Sokka put his hands on his cheeks before he could spiral. “No, no, Zuko, you didn’t do _anything_ wrong, okay? It’s all great, it’s just that we never talked about it and I wasn’t sure you wanted everyone to know. That’s all. I’m very happy to be called your boyfriend, if you couldn’t tell.” He smirked seeing Zuko’s expression relax. “Although it was fun to sneak in your room all ninja-like and have this forbidden relationship with a super buff, extremely hot, leader of a Nation guy. And it was also extremely amusing to see you calling me babe in front of your advisors. Aang nearly fell from his chair!” He chuckled. 

Zuko blushed again and glanced down. “Yeah uhhh, I didn’t really _mean_ to do that, but I guess it gave me the opportunity to tell everyone. They had begun to pester me with some Find-A-Wife-To-Make-Alliances stuff and I was starting to run out of excuses to not see the candidates.”

Sokka widened his eyes and pulled Zuko in for a kiss. He didn’t know about that. “Nope.” He said, frowning a bit. “Not on my watch. No arranged marriages here. Fuck that, I’m not letting you go. I'll dress up as a Kyoshi Warrior if I have to.” He looked him up and down. “Spirits, you’re beautiful.”  
Zuko liked compliments and pet names more than he cared to admit, and Sokka had picked up on it extremely quickly. And of course he used it to his advantage. Teasing him in front of their friends was his primary source of fun these days.

“Now, babe, want to go around the palace holding hands and see everyone’s jaw drop?” He was expecting a scold and a blush, but Zuko’s eyes sparkled with that wild gleam that Sokka sometimes managed to get out of him. “Yeah. Who cares. Let’s do this.”  
Sokka grinned and took his hand.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
**FIVE YEARS LATER**

Sokka woke up feeling the warmth of the sun on his bare skin. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw Zuko sat beside him in bed, leafing through documents. Classic. He often worked on weekends, but on Sundays he allowed himself to stay in bed until Sokka woke up. That was his way of compromising. 

“Good morning, Sunshine” Sokka said, raising his arm to fidget with a strand of Zuko’s now extremely long hair. Zuko raised his eyes from the papers and leaned in to kiss him.  
“Hmm. Nice. Do you really have to work now?” Sokka asked, his voice purposefully whiny, hoping to get to Zuko’s soft spot. 

Zuko smiled. “I’m not really working. These are all marriage requests or adoption papers. I don’t have the time to go through them all, but it makes me happy, so I requested for some of them to be passed on directly to me. So many people are being happy with the person they love, I feel like we really made a difference that day that I accidentally called you babe.”

“Honey, you started to make a difference the moment you joined us at the Western Air Temple. And you haven’t stopped ever since. Everything you do makes a difference. You’re making a difference in my pants right now!”  
“SOKKA, THIS IS SERIOUS –“  
“My pants are serious too. Cm’on, lose the documents and get in here” Sokka said, tugging at his robes to get him to lie down. 

Zuko obliged, there was no use in resisting Sunday Morning Horny Sokka. As he lied down and looked his boyfriend’s eyes being hit by the sunlight, resulting in a lighter blue, and his skin glowing in the orange light, it hit him.  
“Sokka.” He said, softly.  
“Hm?”  
“Let’s get married.”  
Sokka made a choking sound. “Oh, no.”  
Zuko nearly had a heart attack. His brain began to work at light’s speed.  
“You’re not taking this away from me, I already missed the chance of doing things properly once.” Sokka explained, while he rolled over and reached for the drawers of his nightstand.  
He rummaged for what Zuko thought were centuries, until he turned to face him, something in his hand. 

He opened his fist to let Zuko see what he was holding.  
It was a bethrotal necklace, hand-carved, a red dragon curled around the Southern Water Tribe symbol.  
Zuko tried to speak, but wasn’t able to. Sokka took the opportunity to do things properly, even though he had a whole night planned out a few weeks from that moment, but of course Zuko had to hit him with a bomb like that completely unannounced. Zuko always managed to surprise him, and Sokka loved it. That, anyway, didn’t stop the nervousness from forming a lump in his throat. 

His voice came out slightly shaky when he looked Zuko in those golden eyes of his and said “Babe, I am so, head over heels, in love with you. It’s insane. And I could go on for hours about how amazing you are and how much you deserve everything you got and more in life and If you’ll let me, I will try and give it to you because I’m not planning on going anywhere without you. On the contrary, I want to stay as close as possible to you, and Zuko, you are so so so beautiful and I can’t even believe you fell for me but it worked out great, and I’d like it to keep being great for the rest of our lives, so, uhm - Fire Lord Hot Stuff, will you marry me?” 

Zuko let out a nervous chuckle and a single tear run down his face. He gathered the strenght to answer. “I will marry you, Jerkface, in this lifetime and in all the others.” 

Sokka was gleaming. "YES! YOU SAID YES!"  
"Of course I said yes, you idiot."  
As a response, Sokka wiped away Zuko’s happy tears with his thumbs and kissed him softly. He then put the necklace around his neck and began to stroke his hair.  
“You know what would seal this marriage proposal perfectly?” he said after a while.  
Zuko was so relaxed by the stroking that he nearly missed the question. “Hm, what?” He mumbled. 

“Morning sex.” Sokka said in his ear, grinning, sending a shiver down Zuko’s spine.  
Zuko became suddenly very awake and very aware of Sokka’s body pressed against his.  
He turned around to face him. “Alright. Not because you’re super hot right now, only because you told me I’m beautiful. And carved a necklace.”  
“And I’d do it again”, Sokka said, before throwing himself on top of Zuko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this is it. I hope you liked it! Please leave a comment if you did, I love reading your comments! I'll be back soon. Have a great day ♥


End file.
